The Coming on of Night

In “The Coming on of Night,” night is the central metaphor for death. By placing this metaphor in the title, Pastan makes it clear that death is not only at the center of the poem but at the center of life. Like death, night is predictable. It happens at the end of every day the way death happens at the end of each person’s life. Although nobody predicts exactly how they are going to die or when it will arrive, by old age it becomes predictable the way night is predictable at evening time. Although death can be frightening and unfamiliar, Pastan treats it as natural. She places the focus not on night itself but on “the peace / of evensong” (Lines 9-10), which is the time before night arrives. In this way, she focuses the attention of the reader not on death but on the time of life in which one can sense death coming and can experience the last of life the way one experiences the peace of the evening.

Fire is used repeatedly as a metaphor for life and for aspects of life that require more life-force and energy.